Beware of the Werewitch

Chapter 2

Ella had not slept well. She was dreading whatever the Alpha had in store for her, and she did not want to risk making him even angrier by being late again. When her alarm went off at five she felt like she had just gone to sleep and was very tempted to push snooze. She also knew that she had the bad luck of accidentally shutting the alarm off all together when she meant to hit snooze instead.

She dragged her covers off and forced herself to sit up. This was going to be a long day. She pulled on the work clothes that she had laid out the night before, and wandered downstairs quietly. She went to the kitchen only to find the light on and both of her parents up.

Her mother turned around as she entered. "Oh good, your up. I was just about to send your father up to get you." Her mother said as she laid a plate on the table.

"Sit and eat before you have to leave." Her mother said with a warm smile. Ella sat down and ate a little of the food that was on the plate just to make her mother happy, but she was so tired that she had no appetite.

Ella was dreading this morning. She was not sure what the Alpha had in store, but she knew that there was a punishment coming so she was not going to enjoy this.

After she had eaten all that she could get down, Ella cleared her plate and washed it and put it in the dish drainer. She kissed and hugged both her parents who were both nursing their coffee at the table, and left for the packhouse.

Ella did not have a car, so she had to walk the fifteen minutes to the enormous building located at the center of the main town area. The Alpha was outside, waiting on the steps for Ella. As she walked up, he looked at his watch.

"I am glad that you are taking this seriously. We are waiting for two more people." The Alpha took a moment to look her up and down.

" I thought I told you to dress for the work?" Ella looked down at herself. She had on an old t-shirt and hoodie, some old holey jeans with paint spills on them, and work boots. She looked up at the Alpha confused. "I am sorry Alpha, this is my work clothes. I thought that we would be doing a job today that we would get dirty." The Alpha chuckled. "I guess the mistake is mine. I meant workout clothes. I wanted you to train with us this morning." He says with a chuckle.

Ella looked horrified. "Oh! Oh, I am so sorry. I can run home and change and run back. I won't be long I can run the whole way." Ella blurts out in embarrassment.

The Alpha holds up his hand with a smile on his face. "No worries. I think we have some shorts and sneakers in the lost and found box that you can use. Stay here and I will take a look." The Alpha walked inside the packhouse to go find her some more appropriate footwear. Ella sat down on the steps and took off her boots while she waited.

She heard voices off in the distance. As they came closer, she realized that they were boys voices. When the pair came into the light Ella gave an internal groan and hoped that these were not the two that they were waiting for.

It was none other than the Alpha's son, Jake and the Beta's son, Jake's best friend, Andy. The two of them were among some of the people at school that Ella made a point to avoid. The two boys noticed her when they were almost standing next to her.

"Well lookie here, it's the space case. Are you a little lost nature girl?" Andy said. Both of the boys laughed.

Ella was ready to ignore them both, but then Andy reached down and grabbed her boot. He took it and started swinging it around above his head by the laces.

"I hear that you like to explore nature." He said with an evil grin. He elbowed Jake, who was standing next to him. Andy was very tall, and even though Jake was an Alpha to be who was broad and strong, Andy had almost an entire head taller. Jake was dark haired like his Dad, and Andy was dark blonde. They looked like complete opposites. Jake had gotten his mother's sparkling blue eyes, while Andy had eyes that were so dark brown they were almost black.

Ella stood up. "Please give me back my boot." She said rather sheepishly. Andy stopped swinging it and grabbed the boot for a second. "You really want this manky old boot?" He held it out to her. Ella stepped forward to take the boot back. Andy dashed it away at the last moment. With a powerful wide swing by its laces, Andy launched the boot off into the darkness of the nearby trees.

"I think we should let nature have it." He says with a chuckle and walks past Ella up the packhouse steps. Ella put her foot back in the one boot that she did have and hopped over into the trees. She could not see the steps where the Alpha told her to wait, from the place in the trees where she thought the boot landed.

She did not have a phone or a flashlight with her, so she had no way to find the black boot in the dark, even with her heightened werewolf night vision. She was now on her hands and knees waving her arms around on the ground in front of her, trying to feel for the boot.

She heard the door to the packhouse door open and the three men came out. "Where did Ella go?" The Alpha asked as he looked around. Andy answered him as he bounded down the stairs. "I don't know, Sir. Was she supposed to meet us here?" Andy asked the Alpha in an innocent tone.

The Alpha walked forward and looked back in the direction that Ella had walked from originally. "Yes. I asked her to meet us here so she could start training with the two of you." The Alpha shook his head in disappointment and put the shoes and shorts down on the side of the steps.

"Ok. It looks like it will just be the three of us then. Let's go." The Alpha said and motioned for the boys to follow him. Jake looked back at the woods where Ella was still looking for her boot with worry on his face, while Andy clapped him on the back and dragged him off after the Alpha. Ella wished that she could go back to bed and start this day all over again.